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(Sharecast News) - European slumped on Friday amid fears about the stability of the US banking sector after two regional lenders disclosed issues with fraudulent loans.
The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index had fallen 1.47% to 563 by 1156 BST. Germany's DAX was down 2%, France's CAC declined 0.62% and Britain's FTSE 100 tumbled by 1.32%.
Two US banks on Thursday disclosed problems with bad and fraudulent loans, raising concerns that this situation may be more widespread.
"There are increasing signs of storm clouds gathering over markets, with little relief from the building wall of worry," said Interactive Investor head of markets Richard Hunter.
"Already grappling with stretched stock valuations in the AI space, an unresolved government shutdown and a deteriorating relationship between Beijing and Washington, investors were exposed to a new source of concern in the form of lending practices and bad loans for US regional banks."
"Of themselves, the credit losses announced by two regional banks were limited and seem to be contained. While there are hopes that this could be an isolated incident, the episode brought back unwelcome memories of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse in 2023 and, with several regional banks yet to report, investors are on high alert."
Predictably, bank shares were under pressure, with Deutsch Bank, Barclays, Banco de Sabadell, Banco Santander, Standard Chartered and Societe Generale all falling. Bond yields also fell globally as investors sold off equities in search of a safe haven from the turmoil.
Sabadell shares were dealt a double blow after a $19bn bid by rival BBVA failed.
Defence stocks also tumbled on the prospect of peace talks to halt the war on Ukraine by neighbouring Russia as US President Donald Trump prepared to meet Ukraine leader Volodymyyr. Zelenskyy. Leonardo, Renk, Rheinmetall, Babcock and Hensoldt declined on the news.
On the positive side, shares in EssilorLuxottica surged as the Ray-Ban maker reported better than expected third-quarter revenue on Thursday, boosted by "booming" sales of wearable products and steady growth in North America, its biggest market.
Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com